During the Slovenian EU Presidency we did some nice things on the Balkans – some credit goes to us (thanks Uroš) for the drafting of the final Declaration on the Western Balkans (PDF) that was part of the European Council conclusions in June 2008. Thanks to those poor guys negotiating our draft through then – many thanks to you as well, I know it was not easy:)
The Balkans are even more central to my current job. And today we organised an internal screening of the “Return to Europe” documentary on Albania, even the Commissioner Olli Rehn joined us. I’ve seen the documentary before and today met part of the team behind – from the ERSTE Stifting and the European Stability Initiative. The Albanian piece in particular is good and above all positive. As I spent some time there in summer 2007, I know how the place looks like. True, Albania has been remote from Europe for far too long, but it has been growing impressively. A country that was subject to a complete chaos in 1997 nowadays looks relatively modern and on the way up. Something to be proud of – many thanks also to people from MJAFT. I wonder if such a civic movement would work in some of the EU countries…Make sure you take your time to visit the website www.returntoeurope.org. Continue reading “The Balkan Monitor and “Copenhagen minus””
Marko Bucik 